Across Worlds: Jaune's Odyssey
by MahinaFable
Summary: An impossible mission. An irresistible reward. A mysterious summons gives Jaune an opportunity to put right the mistakes of his past, and make his family whole once more. Driven by love for a woman out of legend, Jaune will battle through realms beyond his imagination. (Arkos, Multiple Crossover) Current World: Dragon Age Origins
1. The Queen of the Night

**Across Worlds: Jaune's Odyssey**

**[/]**

"The temple - I think we've found it."

Ren strode into the impromptu camp, his face flush with the effort of an extended scouting run in the humid jungle. As the rest of his friends, the quirky collection of Hunters who comprised Team RRAYNBOW, gathered to him in the center of the camp, Nora handed him a full canteen and a wet cloth, both of which he accepted gratefully.

"How far is it?" Ruby asked as the weary scout wiped the sweat from his face with a contented sigh. Ren took a deep drink of water before answering her.

"For all of us, about five hours, less if Yang or Weiss burn some of the jungle down."

"Let's try not to leave tracks if we can help it." Jaune Arc stood to one side, the temporary removal of his black padded shirt being his only concession to the oppressive heat and stifling humidity of their environs. "Either way, we won't be making it there before nightfall."

Across from him, Blake looked much more comfortable in the jungle than anyone else, her tanned skin glistening with a light sheen. "We still don't know who might be following us. Ren, you take point, I'll watch our backs."

Ren nodded his agreement with the plan. He would better be able to judge the pace and ease of traversal his fellow humans could reasonably make, while Blake's advanced mobility and stealth techniques could help watch for pursuit from Salem's minions, both sentient and otherwise.

"Okay." Ruby stood and addressed the team. "Everyone get some rest. We move on the temple in the morning."

They had all been searching for the Temple of the Queen of Night, chasing down what leads they could. After Qrow had been incapacitated in a vicious skirmish, the Relic of Knowledge had activated of its own accord, with Jinn giving them a, quote, "freebie." To become whole once more, their team must find the Temple hidden in the jungle. Though the team had been very careful not to ask any questions of Jinn themselves, the entity had shrugged and told them that there were other powers that she had to answer to, and it was by that will that she came to them. Reluctantly, very reluctantly, they had left Qrow behind in a hospital to recuperate, under the watchful eyes of Oscar, Taiyang Xiao Long and Winter Schnee. Anyone looking to kick the old bird while he was down would have quite the fight on their hands. In the meantime, their search for clues lead them through this jungle and now, their efforts had been rewarded.

Following daybreak, the team quickly packed their camp and followed Ren through the jungle. Jaune followed first behind the scout, only very occasionally hacking some of the obstructing plant growth apart with Crocea Mors to clear the way for the others. It was hard going, but the young Hunters made their way without complaint. As Ren had predicted, it took them a solid five hours to reach their destination.

As Jaune pushed aside a thick curtain of vines, he saw Ren enter a clearing, one dominated by a massive, ancient ziggurat. Moss grew on dark grey stone, the multiple layers of terraced structure rising a hundred feet or more into the air. Behind him, the rest of the team joined to look at the structure.

Yang whistled. "That must've set them back a couple hundred lien."

Next to her, Weiss frowned. Out of all of them, she had been the worst off in the jungle, with her tasteful heels getting trapped in the muddy ground and her skirt tearing on passing thorns. "There's going to be deathtraps in there, I just know it," she huffed

"Well, duh!" Ruby's lighthearted - if somewhat feigned - optimism never wavered. "It'll be super cool, like Oleanna Bones and the Temple of Gratuitous Doom!"

"Didn't she die in that one?" Nora stretched.

"I mean, she didn't die-die, she came back…"

"Guys," Jaune waved for his friends to pipe down. "I think Ren's found an entrance."

Jutting from the stone ziggurat was a distinct rectangular protrusion, with a heavy roof held up by intricately-carved pillars, leading to an open entryway. Ruby poked around it, puzzled.

"Huh, why isn't it overgrown?"

Sure enough, the foliage around the temple entrance was short and neat, with the growth halting entirely at the entrance.

"Hm." Ren rubbed his chin. "Is it possible that there are people living here?"

Weiss carefully tapped one of the carvings - an image of an unbroken moon - with a stick, relaxing when nothing obviously nefarious occurred as a result. "Maybe opportunistic drifters? Needed the entry clear, but couldn't be bothered to scrub the whole place down?"

"All right team, how do we want to do this?" Ruby put her hands on her hips as she addressed her friends.

Jaune squatted in the grass across from her as the team formed a circle. "Okay, so if there are people living here, would that make deathtraps more or less likely?"

"We would have to carefully observe if there are any trails or disturbances in the dust that could lead us safely through the hallways," offered Weiss.

"Can we just have one of Weiss's summons stroll through there? If there _are_ any deathtraps, they would just go off on it and leave us unharmed," Jaune mused.

Weiss shook her head. "It _might_ work, maybe, but what if the deathtraps reset themselves? The first person following behind would think themselves safe, only to fall victim to the trap. Or what if the deathtrap isn't meant to target a single person, but the entire room? Or even the entire temple? We need to play it safe."

'So, we send in the person with the best eyes and the sneakiest mind to look for deathtraps first," concluded Ruby. All eyes turned towards Blake.

"Oh, I see how it is," she deadpanned. "Send in the Faunus to check for traps. Why don't you just pick me up and throw me down the hallway while you're at it?"

"Do you think that would work?" Yang smirked. "Show of hands, who here has night vision, acute, superhuman hearing and literal catlike reflexes and agility?"

Reluctantly, Blake raised her hand while everyone else kept looking at her. The cat Faunus scowled at Yang, who just gave her a cheeky little wink, and then sighed, resigned to her fate. "Fine, I'll do it. But Yang, when we do finally get to move in together, you're buying us a couch and then sleeping on it for a month."

"Aw, you're the best, Blake!"

Ruby stood, brushing off her skirt. "Okay, let's get ready. Blake, don't take any unnecessary risks. I think Jaune should go second, since he's a big, muscley clog with a shield, then Yang. For punching. I'll follow up with Weiss in the middle, and then Ren and Nora can watch our rear."

Yang threw a mock scowl Ren's direction. "You checking out my sis?"

The quiet Animan was unphased. "You think Nora would have kept quiet if I had been?"

Nora said nothing, just pulling out her hammer.

"Fair enough," Yang said, conceding the point.

"Guys, focus," Jaune cut in. "The last thing we want is for one of us to get caught in a deathtrap because we were too busy goofing off."

The other teens shared a glance, thrown by the seriousness in Jaune's tone. They had all changed and grown since Beacon, to be sure, but in times like that, the sheer extent of just _how much_ could still catch them off guard. When they had all met, Jaune had been the dorkiest of all possible dorks, even out-dorking _Ruby_. But now, looking at the grave and stoic expression on his face as he regarded the temple entrance… sometimes Ren wondered if Pyrrha would recognize the dorky knight that had won her heart in the more solemn young man they knew today.

With that, a cautious Blake led the way into the temple. It was readily apparent that someone had been living in the structure, as the hallway was well-lit with torches and utterly devoid of dust. They moved slowly, with the cat Faunus taking the time to carefully examine the upcoming floor, walls, and ceiling before signaling for the rest of the group to follow. As the light of the entryway faded from view, the hallway opened into a large antechamber, one lit by burning braziers and dominated by a wall bearing an enormous mosaic Nora started towards it, only to be stopped by Jaune abruptly holding up his arm.

"Hold!" he barked. "This could still be dangerous. Blake, if you would?"

She carefully checked the room, gingerly testing floor tiles and peering into shadowed corners. After a few moments, Blake returned to stand before them. "If there's anything in here, it's hidden too well for me. Might as well check it out."

"Okay, but make sure not to touch the mosaic, team," Ruby reminded them as the young Hunters spread out to begin inspecting the strange images. Some of them were easy to decipher - a large massed cavalry charge, a dragon, wings spread wide as it faced off against a team of four people stood on a tremendous tree branch, a wall of ice with people firing arrows down one side - but others were stranger and more difficult to wrap their heads around.

"I think this may be old," Jaune mused. "Very old."

"I… I wouldn't be so sure of that," Weiss said. Her voice trembled as she spoke. "Unless someone can explain what an airship is doing depicted on the wall of an ancient temple?"

Jaune and Ruby shared a glance, then quickly ran to the far side of the hall, where Weiss stared up at the image. It was, unmistakably, an airship, but of a design that none there recognized, appearing almost daggerlike. Weiss peered closer at it, though she remained careful to avoid actually touching the mosaic. "I can even see something printed on the… well, the fuselage," she said. "S….S….V? There's something else on it, but I can't make it out."

"What does that mean?" asked Ren. "That isn't standard Atlas ship designation, is it Weiss?"

"No," the Atlesian girl shook her head. "And the design is like nothing I've seen before." Her eyes darted down to an image of a man in some strange looking armor. "Does 'N7' mean anything to anyone here?"

Upon hearing a chorus of negatives, Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and stepped back from the wall. "Is it possible that this is a hoax of some kind?"

"Pretty elaborate hoax," Nora mused. "Maybe someone found the old temple and made the wall to troll whoever found it?"

Jaune shook his head. "I don't think that Jinn would have led us to a hoax, let alone one out in the jungle. We know that the history of Remnant is a lot different from what we learned in school. Is it possible that this is… I dunno, some kind of holdover from the gods' first attempt?"

"Close but no cigar."

At the sound of a strange woman's voice, the young Hunters all fell into battle stances, their weapons drawn and alert to any danger.

"Wow, rude."

The wall with the mosaic split apart, with the grinding sound of stone sliding over stone. From the gap stepped forward a single woman, barefoot, and dressed in a simple cotton shift. She was tall, broad, and dark, reminding them uncomfortably of Elm, one of the Ace Operatives that Team RWBY had contended against in Atlas. Unlike that soldier, this woman had long dark curls that fell wildly across her shoulders. She came to a halt before the wary Hunters, putting her hands on her hips as the mosaic wall closed up behind her once more. The woman gave them all an appraising glance before she spoke.

"So, do you normally greet people with weapons drawn, or am I just special?"

It said something as to their previous experiences that the assorted young adults all kept their weapons at the ready. The woman just sighed. "What, exactly, did you expect to find here?"

Ruby and Jaune shared a glance, and Ruby stepped forward to address the stranger. "We, um, we were told to come find the 'Temple of the Queen of Night.' And that sounds kinda spooky, so, you know, we were kind of expecting to have to throw down with some scary Grimm lady, maybe even Salem herself. So if you're gonna go all 'muahaha, I will devour your souls!' on us, could we just kind of skip to that part and get it over with?"

They tensed as the woman began to laugh, though in place of the diabolical villain laughter as described by Ruby, it was more of a low, throaty chuckle. "Wow," the stranger huffed. "Mistaken for a Grimm. That's gotta be an all-time low."

From behind his shield, Jaune spoke up. "Then who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I have many names, little knight. I am here because this is my temple. I have many names - Selene, Luna, Chang'e, Metzii - but for you, the name Mahina shall suffice. I am the Queen of the Night, the Goddess of the Moon."

They looked at each other, skepticism clear on their faces. Mahina sighed once more and raised a single arm into the air. As the Hunters braced themselves for whatever attack she may have been preparing to throw at them, the room went utterly dark as the braziers extinguished themselves. The darkness held for a moment before beams of moonlight streamed in from carefully-arranged openings high on the wall. They converged into a single point above the mosaic wall before Mahina twisted her wrist and sent the moonlight into a large column in the center of the room.

Nora was the first to speak. "Huh. Well that's neat."

Mahina chuckled again. "'Neat' indeed, young Valkyrie. Now, if you're convinced that I'm not a Grimm, would you all care to take a seat?" With another gesture, the woman conjured a set of fine chairs and couches, arranged in a semicircle facing the mosaic wall, and another chair for herself. She sat, folding one bare leg over another. The young Hunters still seemed wary, but seeing that this woman was possessed of unknown magical abilities but had made no overtly hostile movements towards them, opted to at least put their weapons away and have a seat.

"So… a goddess," Weiss cautiously began.

"Indeed."

"I was under the impression that there were only two, the Brother gods."

The moon goddess rolled her eyes. "_Those_ two. They _created_ Remnant, and its inhabitants, and set in motion the path of this world's story. _This _world's. There are… other worlds than this."

Well. That got their attention.

"Are you… not from around here?" asked Blake.

Mahina smiled ruefully at her. "Well, yes, but also no. It's complicated, to say the least. Needless to say, seeing my sigil shattered in the night sky brought this world to my attention with a quickness."

Ruby's little brow furrowed as she thought hard. "How can you be from here but also not from here?"

"How can you be leader of Team RWBY and Team RNJR?"

"But Team RNJR was something that we just put together!"

"So is Remnant."

Ruby fell silent as she ruminated on that one. Jaune spoke up next. "If you're here now, does that mean that you're here to help with the Salem situation?"

"Once again, both yes and no. You see, I had already taken action, but my plans went… awry."

"If you're a goddess, can't you just 'poofle' and make Salem and the Grimm just kinda explode?" Nora asked, her head canted like a curious puppy.

"There are… rules. Conventions, that deities follow. Generally speaking, just '_poofling_' as you say, another deity's work is… well, it just isn't done."

"Just isn't done?! You're letting all this bad stuff happen because you're worried about being _rude_?!"

Mahina leaned back in her chair, casually conjuring a coffee table and full tea set, with a cup of hot tea in her hand. She took a sip before answering the orange-haired hammer wielder. "Let's suppose, for the sake of discussion, that I simply snap my fingers and have Salem explode in slow-motion. Just ludicrous gibs, real chunky salsa, that sort of thing," she said, drawing a smile from Nora at the visual. "The brother gods of Remnant, assuming that they don't just undo the act, may well decide to retaliate across some of the other worlds in which I manifest, releasing Grimm on worlds poorly-suited to face them, or having random silver-eye powers throwing things out of all balance and generally making a bloody mess of things. That's the sort of overt action that you are no doubting thinking of."

Yang crossed her arms under her bust. "If you can't just fight them, than what were you planning to do about it?"

"My portfolio includes the moon, the cycles of the tides and… fertility. I gave to Remnant a daughter." Here, Mahina's smile became wistful. "I granted to her a talent for combat unmatched in her world, and tempered it with an equally-deep love for the mortal lives around her. She could be the new goddess that Remnant needs."

Jaune sat forward. "That sounds great! When can we meet her?"

"You already have," the goddess said sadly. As she spoke, the moonlight coalesced into a flat screen hovering in the air. It formed an image, one that stunned the Hunters.

Their lost comrade. Pyrrha Nikos.

"The goddess of victory."

They all stared at it for a long moment, before Jaune turned to Mahina, his mouth hanging open in slack shock. The goddess shrugged, then smoothly transformed into the short, red haired woman that he had met in front of Pyrrha's statue in Argus.

"Hello, again," she told him softly.

Jaune's mouth worked as he struggled to find the words. Mahina just shrugged once again, transforming back into the form in which she'd greeted them.

"How?" Jaune finally asked. "If she was a goddess, then how did she…" he forced himself to speak past the tightening of his throat. "How did she die?"

"I had not accounted for the power of the Maidens and the cleverness of mortals. Beyond that, she was still young," Mahina told him, told them all. "She was yet to come into the full extent of her power. But even in her ignorance… though she perished, she still persists, in a way. Infinite in distance. Unbound by death."

The goddess stood. "What if I told you that there was a way to bring her back?"

"We're in." Jaune said immediately.

She favored him with a smile. "Of course you are. That is why I have called you here."

"What do we need to do?" asked Ruby.

"There will be a part for each of you to play," Mahina stood from her chair, dissipated her tea into nothingness, and began to pace. "But the bulk of the task falls to him," she nodded towards Jaune. "She loved you dearly, you know. And that's why you must be of central importance in this endeavor. I will send you across worlds, where you must weave yourself within the respective stories found therein. As you sojourn, your efforts will draw mythopaeic energies to me. Because of your connection with her, those energies will naturally coalesce into Pyrrha. Though others may come with you from time to time, you must attend to each world's quest, and there will be times when you will have to face them without your friends alongside you."

The goddess halted and stood before Jaune. "Will you do it? Will you brave unknown dangers to bring back the girl that we both love?"

Jaune stood and, surprising himself, took the goddess's hands. "I will. I'll bring her home, no matter what."

Mahina nodded, then strode over to the moonlight screen. "You will take with you your own native abilities." As she spoke, the screen pulled up an image, showing humans engaged in a desperate hand-to-hand battle against undead bodies in various states of decay ranging from near-perfect to outright skeletal. A man in a black cloak led a desperate charge.

"Night's Watch on me!"

"In some worlds, those abilities will make you akin to a demigod," Mahina explained.

"Why… why isn't their Aura protecting them?" Blake asked, appalled by the carnage she was witnessing on the screen.

"They don't have Aura on this world," the goddess told her. "On this world, your abilities would make you a warrior without equal." As she spoke, the image on the screen shifted again, showing a man in an orange martial arts gi fighting against some strange… alien-looking creature with a tail. Both the man and the creature levitated in the air as they exchanged rapid kicks and punches.

"Ka….me….ha….me….haaaaaa!"

As they watched, the man generated an enormous ball of glowing blue-white energy, sending it at the alien. The screen washed out in pure white. "And in others, you may well be hard-pressed to keep up."

Jaune nodded, then began double-checking his equipment.

"Time will flow differently when you're away from Remnant," she added. "Those not accompanying you can view your adventures here at my temple, and even communicate with you. They may see things that you could not, so heed their perspective."

"Can you tell me where I'm headed first?"

The goddess nodded. "You must attend to this first journey alone. Look at the screen."

[/]

He turned and peered at the screen. It went black, then golden words began to form.

_And so the Golden City is blackened_

_With each step you take into My hall._

_Marvel at Perfection, for it is fleeting._

_You have brought Sin to Heaven_

_And Doom upon all the world._

A man began speaking as hand-drawn images flashed across the screen. "The Chantry teaches us that it is the hubris of men which brought the Darkspawn into our world. The mages had sought to usurp Heaven, but instead… they destroyed it. They were cast out, twisted and cursed by their own corruption. They returned as monsters, the first of the Darkspawn. They became a Blight upon the lands, unstoppable and relentless."

The screen then showed burning fires upon a stone bridge underground, as oddly squat humans dragged their wounded behind the front ranks of their assembled army.

"The dwarven kingdoms were the first to fall," the narrator intoned. "And from the Deep Roads, the Darkspawn drove at us again, and _again_, until finally, we neared annihilation."

As they watched, the heavy stone doors blocking the tunnel the dwarves defended finally sundered, and a horde of Darkspawn, blackened, bestial humanoids whose combination of oily shadow and protruding bone reminded the Remnans of nothing more than sapient Grimm. A few truly massive, horned specimens filled their ranks as well. In flashes, the dwarven forces were annihilated, with the screen lingering on the silhouette of an impaled dwarf before raging flames.

As the screen went black again, the narrator's tone took a turn. "Until… the Grey Wardens came. Men and women from every race." A mixed-race unit charged through the woods as a heroic theme swelled. "Warriors and mages. Barbarians and kings. The Grey Wardens sacrificed everything to stem the tide of darkness… and prevailed." The Grey Wardens tore into the Darkspawn ranks, bringing blade and arrow, shield and spell to bear on the enemy. A village burned, screaming peasants cut down as two of the Wardens, a human and a dwarf, stood back-to-back, fending off all comers. The scene ended with the dwarf slamming the heavy head of a warhammer onto a Darkspawn, bringing black back to the screen.

"It has been four centuries since that victory," the narrator continued. The screen showed a man, dark of skin and hair, bearded and bearing grey and silver armor, who surveyed a burnt caravan on a cliffside road. "And we have kept our vigil, have watched and waited for their return. But those who once called us heroes have forgotten."

The man came upon a corpse with a twisted dagger planted into his back and chest. He rolled the body over with his foot and knelt to examine it, but as he did so, whispers flitted across the screen, and a pair of Darkspawn emerged from the woods, seeking to ambush the man. With preternatural perception, the Warden caught the extended blade of the first attacker, throwing him to the ground before simply gutting the second. He then used his boot to roll the first attacker off the edge of the cliff, sending it crashing heavily to the ground more than a hundred feet below.

"It may already be too late," the Warden continued, as he wiped the blackened blood from his face. "For I have seen what is on the horizon." Across the way, a massive fire burned in the forest. "Maker… help us all."

The screen faded back to white.

[/]

"Your mission will be to join the Grey Wardens and fight this evil," Mahina told Jaune. "Prepare yourself well, for it will be dangerous, as you have seen." With that, the goddess stepped back to allow the young knight to speak more privately with his friends.

"I don't like that you're going alone," Ren said, without preamble.

Jaune merely shrugged. "Maybe, but you heard the lady. This one, I have to do on my own."

"But-"

"It's for _Pyrrha_," the knight insisted.

Ruby came up to Jaune and patted him on the shoulder. "We'll be looking out for you the whole time. I know that you can do this, Jaune!"

He looked around, seeing the looks of support from his friends. Finally, Lie Ren nodded his assent. "Just… make sure that you come back," the young man told him.

"Well yeah, Nora would break the bonds of time and space to _kick_ my ass if I didn't," Jaune laughed nervously. With that, Jaune took a deep breath and walked back to Mahina.

"Okay. I'm ready. What do I do?"

Mahina, goddess of the moon, Queen of the Night, pulled Jaune Arc into a hug. "Thank you for doing this," she told him. Jaune was clearly flustered by having a literal deity express affection to him.

"I… sure," he said. "Just try not to murder me for not having got her hints earlier."

She smiled widely at him, with bright white teeth. "I was watching over you, the both of you, during your little moonlit training sessions. For all that you drove her absolutely mad, you also gave her great joy. So go on, and show all the worlds what you can do." With that, she opened the mosaic wall, revealing a silver, shimmering portal.

Jaune took a deep breath to steady himself. He turned and gave the thumbs-up to his friends, and then stepped into another world.

**[/]**

**Chapter Endnotes: So, this is going to be a multi-crossover type story, featuring just a whole bunch of my favorite franchises. Here are the ones that I for sure know will be in the fic, not necessarily in this order:**

**Dragon Age**

**Monster Hunter World**

**Star Wars**

**Game of Thrones**

**Mass Effect**

**The Lord of the Rings**

**The Outer Worlds**

**Dragonball Z/Super**

**The Elder Scrolls (either Oblivion or Skyrim)**

**Final Fantasy VII**

**Firefly/Serenity**

**Fallout New Vegas**

**And there could well be more. I'm debating the "Acts of Caine" franchise, for instance. It's awesome, but it's also **_**insanely**_** violent, moreso than even Game of Thrones, and would rate an 'M' rating all on its own. For franchises with more than one entry, they may not take place consecutively. (For example, I could do Mass Effect 1, then a Game of Thrones bit, then Mass Effect 2.) Hopefully, the rules of the game are pretty well clear. The more that Jaune does, the more "goodies" he gets rewarded with, such as having friends go with him, or possibly alteration to his equipment to mesh better with the current world he's journeying through. **

**Also, yep, I totally self-inserted, but as a goddess. That's pretty much shameless indulgence on my part. Hopefully, that makes a solid framing device to explain why and how RWBY characters are traipsing through, say, outer space, or a post-apocalyptic wasteland, as well as giving them damn good incentive to do so. I hope you all enjoy this new effort.**

**-Mahina**


	2. Dragon Age Origins I

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Let's get going with the first quest proper.**

**[/]**

Jaune stepped through the portal and was engulfed in silvery moonlight. After a few moments, the light began to recede, giving way to a view of an old, partially-destroyed stone road winding its way along a temperate countryside, one replete with farmlands and wooded thickets.

_Hello, Jaune,_ Mahina's voice rang quietly in his mind. _Can you hear me?_

He blinked, looking around but finding no one. "Uh, Mahina? That you?" he asked.

_I'm speaking to you from back on Remnant,_ explained the goddess. _It would probably behoove you to subvocalize when speaking with me or one of your friends, lest the inhabitants of this land believe you to be insane._

Jaune furrowed his brow and thought hard. _Like this?_

_Close enough. Like any skill, greater ease will come with time and practice._

_So, where am I?_ he asked.

_You are in the world of Thedas. To be more precise, you are in the southern kingdom of Ferelden. It is something of a backwater, but its subjects maintain a steadfast pride in their homeland. It recently overthrew a foreign occupation from the neighboring Empire of Orlais, and they view Orlesians with a degree of suspicion._

_Well that's all nifty,_ Jaune subvocalized. _What does that have to do with me?_

_Your name will sound Orlesian to their sensibilities. You should not hide who you are, but you should be wary that some will fall back on old nationalist suspicions. For now, though, you should prepare yourself. Some Darkspawn have come to kill you._

"Wait, what?!" Jaune blurted out loud. He drew his sword and deployed his shield, and in the knick of time too, as the latter had barely unfolded before an arrow thudded against it. Dropping to one knee and raising his shield against further missiles, Jaune assessed his attackers.

The Darkspawn had been ugly and disconcerting on screen, and in person, it was even worse. Jaune could make out two distinct types, with a pair of smaller, stouter types providing cover fire for a half-dozen taller creatures that were charging his position. Most of them carried curved, jagged blades, but one, the leader no doubt, bore a double headed axe of glistening blackened metal and wore a large, horned helmet upon his head.

Up close and in person, they looked almost like humanoids that had been overcome by some grotesque, _moist_-looking mold growth of some kind, with hands twisted into talons and strange, painful bone growths protruding from the corrupted flesh. And the _smell!_

Jaune struggled not to vomit as the increased proximity of the monsters led to an overpowering, stale, _rancid_ stench assailing his nostrils. He shook his head to clear it as the first of the charging creatures reached him. The young knight used the tough corner of his shield to bash away a blade and retaliated with a quick stab that sank deep between the beast's ribs. Jaune ripped the blade through the dying Darkspawn's side as he pivoted to his right. Curdled black blood coated the ancient gleaming blade of Crocea Mors when Jaune flicked it across the chest of another monster, inflicting a shallow, steaming wound but giving him the space he needed to reposition his shield.

He stepped forward, checking the momentum of the great, overhanded cleave that the Darkspawn leader had begun with his oversized axe. Jaune kept in close, sending out a succession of stabs around the weathered armored plates that the beast wore. He bashed the creature in the center of its misshapen helm, sending it crashing to the ground, but before he could follow up with a killing blow, the young knight was forced to defend himself from attacks from the side.

Taking a second to flick the steaming, gelatinous blood off of his blade, Jaune smoothly sheathed his sword and triggered the shield to shift into the bastard sword form. He whipped the sheath into a brief orbit around his head as it shifted, so that when the razor-sharp bronze edges were fully in place, Jaune was able to sling out a wide, hewing cut, one that dropped the lesser Darkspawn that had surrounded him, all in one fantastic blow. He allowed his momentum to carry him into a quick spin in place as he separated Crocea Mors back into its sword and shield form.

_Noice!_ Yang's exuberant cheer echoed in his mind as the bodies of the Darkspawn fell like scythed wheat around him.

He could make out the short archer Darkspawn drawing their bows and preparing to fire, so he raised his shield and bum-rushed the alpha that was struggling to get to its feet. Jaune slammed into it with his shield, then smoothly let out an overarm stab through the beast's neck. He used his sword as a lever to wrench the alpha's twitching corpse up and in front of him, forming an impromptu barrier against the incoming arrows, which impacted the dead body with a series of sickening, squelching sounds.

Jaune retracted his sword and punched out with his shield to quickly free the blade from where it had bitten into bone, and then adopted a low stance to deal with the arrows. Having powered through gunfire, Dust effects, and the heaviest blows that man or machine could dish on Remnant, he wasn't especially worried about the archers actually hurting him, but without knowing what was around the corner, the Huntsman figured it best to conserve his Aura as much as possible. That way, if he truly needed it, he would always be chambered to let loose with the full extent of his Aura and Dust abilities.

That did leave him in the position of needing to charge the archers, though. Jaune shifted his feet, preparing to break into a sprint, when the archer Darkspawn suddenly stiffened as lightning struck one, then split into a chain to fry the other one. In less than a second, the two stout Darkspawn lay very, very dead, steaming and smoking.

Jaune slowly stood and looked to find his apparent ally. A few yards past the fallen Darkspawn, two figures warily strode onto the scene. He recognized one as the Grey Warden from the brief introduction that he'd watched at Mahina's temple. Worry lines creased his dark skin. He bore a long sword at his hip and several long daggers at his waist, and his black hair and beard was liberally streaked with gray. The Warden's companion, on the other hand, was a young woman, unknown to him, wearing an elaborate yellow robe that emphasized her waist and hips, and sliding a carved wooden staff into a particular sling that held it diagonally along her back. As she brushed her thick, light brown hair back from her face, Jaune caught sight of delicate, pointed ears.

_An elf,_ Mahina informed him helpfully. _An ancient people, but one struggling with oppression and injustice. Not so different from the Faunus of your world._

_And don't stare at the ears,_ added Blake.

_And don't stare at the ears,_ the goddess agreed. _She is also a mage, one born with the power of magic. In this part of this world, people born such are usually housed… or imprisoned, depending on your view... within towers or fortresses. This is partially to protect them from others, but largely to protect others _from_ them. There is… controversy as to this practice. This is her first time leaving her Circle._

Jaune nodded. _Got it._ With that, he waved his bloody sword to them. "Hey, there! Thanks for the assist!"

The veteran Warden held out his hand to signal the mage to halt as he examined the scene. He seemed impressed. "A half dozen hurlocks and an alpha," he mused. "Did you kill them on your own?"

Jaune nodded. "I was preparing to charge the archers, but the lady beat me to it," he said, tossing a jaunty salute in the mage's direction.

"You know," the elf said, "most people tend to be more unnerved at the sight of magic."

"I tend to find Darkspawn far more unnerving. If your magic makes them drop quick and clean, all the better."

The elven mage canted her head curiously, not having expected such a response.

"May I ask what you're doing out on the old highway?" asked the Warden. "I see no wagon of trade supplies, nor would a soldier travel alone."

Jaune feigned surprised recognition. "You're… you're a Grey Warden, aren't you?"

"That I am."

"My name is Jaune Arc. And I'm looking to join the Grey Wardens."

The Warden raised a single eyebrow. "That name sounds Orlesian. Why would you venture so far to join such an order?"

"Well," Jaune hedged.

_Not many in Ferelden_, Mahina supplied.

"There aren't many here in Ferelden," Jaune said. "I figured one here could make more of a difference than back there."

"Hmm…" the Warden stroked his beard. "This is true. And we are in dire need of skilled recruits. Very well, Jaune of Arc. As of this moment, you may consider yourself a recruit of the Grey Wardens. I am Duncan, Commander of the Grey here in Ferelden. This is Alanna, a fellow recruit."

Jaune was tempted to correct Duncan on the 'of Arc' addition to his name, but ultimately decided to just roll with it. "Pleased to meet you both. I'd shake hands, but…" he trailed off as he indicated the nauseating Darkspawn blood that coated his gauntlets.

"You must be careful when cleaning your equipment," Duncan advised. "Darkspawn blood is extremely toxic, a result of the Taint within them. Come. I will show you how to safely cleanse yourself of their blood, and then we will continue to the fortress of Ostagar."

[/]

Their travels seemed to pass in the blink of an eye to Jaune. According to his friends back on Remnant, they literally did so in the form of a map montage as the group hiked down the road to an old fortress. For Jaune, it felt surreal, almost dreamlike, as he had absorbed information about Ferelden, the Grey Wardens, Darkspawn, and the Blight that they caused.

Apparently, the Darkspawn were compelled to dig through the solid rock beneath the dwarven Deep Roads to find the slumbering old gods of the Tevinter Imperium, which once ruled the entirety of southern Thedas. Also, said old gods took the forms of giant dragons. Upon finding one, the Darkspawn would corrupt it with the Taint that they carried, transforming the old god into an Archdemon, which would take command of the horde and lead it onto the surface in an attempt to exterminate all life. _Four times_ this had happened previously, and each time, the races of Thedas had just barely managed to eke out victory over the menace.

All thanks, of course, to the Grey Wardens.

Jaune had asked what it was that made the Grey Wardens more effective against the Darkspawn than normal soldiers, to which Duncan had merely stroked his beard and assured him that "all will be made clear in time."

That sentiment was far too Ozpin-like for Jaune's liking, and from the looks of it, Alanna wasn't thrilled with it either.

The young mage had attempted to share some of what she knew about magic with Jaune, but most of it went right over his head. As near as he could tell, there was a dream realm, called the Fade, from which mages could will magical effects into reality. More or less. And there were also demons there, which spooked people right out. Said demons wanted into the real world, and could possess mages to do it. Therefore, all mages were watched under lock and key by an order of magic-canceling knights that had the go-ahead from the largest religious organization on Thedas to straight-up kill them if they looked dangerous. This, of course, rubbed the mages the wrong way.

It was all Jaune could do to begin to get a grip on the decidedly convoluted tangle of different peoples and social structures that he might have to navigate. Call him a cynic, but somehow he didn't think that his mission would consist of "find spooky dragon, stab it in the kidneys, then go home."

_Your intuition guides you well,_ Mahina congratulated him.

Jaune just sighed.

[/]

The fortress of Ostagar had seen better days. Originally constructed by the Tevinter Imperium to guard against barbarian incursions from the Kocari Wilds to the south, the highest ramparts of the redoubt were crumbling due to age and neglect. Still, the better part of the walls still held, and the long bridge stretching from one side of the valley to the other looked sturdy enough.

As the Warden party passed through the gates, they were met by a tall, blonde man bedecked in a positively _dazzling_ set of gilded plate armor. He was flanked by several guards in gleaming breastplates and full helms, all of whom looked prepared for a fight.

"Who is - " Jaune began to ask, before Duncan stepped forward, crossing his arms across his chest and bowing deeply.

"King Cailan!" the Warden-Commander called out, clearly surprised. "We weren't expecting a -"

"A royal welcome?" the man in the gilded plate interjected, his tone warm and smile wide. "I was beginning to worry that you might miss out on all the fun! We've already won three battles against the creatures, and tomorrow should be no different."

A warning glance from Duncan convinced the recruits to hold their tongues and let their commander handle it. "Disappointed, Your Majesty?" he asked the king.

"I had hoped for a grand battle, like in the tales!" the ruling monarch of Ferelden lamented. "A king riding beside the fabled Grey Wardens, striking down a Tainted god… still, I suppose this will have to do. I'll have the mighty Duncan at my side, after all."

Jaune shared a worried look with Alanna. The King seemed to be, well, rather _cheery_ about the evil twisted monsters threatening to rampage through his kingdom. But then said king turned from Duncan to regard the recruits themselves, and it was best to hide their concerns for the time being.

"I had heard that you'd picked up a recruit on the road, but I'm pleased to see even more joining the Warden's ranks."

Alanna took the lead and bowed. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"I understand that you hail from the Circle of Magi, correct?" Cailan asked of the mage. "I trust that you'll have some fine spells to hurl at the Darkspawn."

Jaune was a little surprised to see Alanna flush under the scrutiny of the human ruler. "I-I'm just recently out of my apprenticeship, but I will do my best, of course."

Cailan shrugged. "Still, you've abilities beyond those of other men. You will be most welcome here." With that, he moved on to scrutinize Jaune, as Alanna quietly tried to regain her composure.

_Elf girl's got it bad,_ Yang snarked. _Look out, Jaune, she probably has a fetish for blonde humans in armor._

The Remnan knight did well to keep the smile off his face as the king addressed him. "And from where do you hail, friend?"

"I came from Orlais to join the fight, Your Majesty," he said, replicating Duncan's earlier bow.

_I'm so proud of him!_ Weiss squealed. _He _can_ be trained to behave!_

_Try not to faint, Weiss. _Jaune added as much dry sentiment as he could over the link.

The King broke into a wide smile. "Ah, that is excellent news! I have long been hoping to foster better relations between our two nations, and seeing Orlesians coming to our aid gives me hope for the future."

_Hey, why does everyone buy that I'm from this Orlais place?_ Jaune asked over the link.

_Oh,_ Mahina answered. _I altered your voice so that you speak with an accent._

_Really?_

Mahina allowed him to hear his voice as the people on Thedas had been hearing it, and indeed, he had a thick accent.

_I sound like a male version of my mother,_ Jaune wondered. _Should I keep the accent when I get back?_

_Sure,_ Yang added, her voice gaining that familiar teasing quality. _Weiss has been blushing every time you open your mouth._

It was interesting how the link was able to psychically convey the wordless shriek of embarrassed outrage that the heiress emitted upon her teammate's declaration. In an effort to pay attention to what was going on around him, Jaune silenced the link as Weiss began to go on a tirade.

Meanwhile, Cailan had taken his leave, giving Duncan the opportunity to address his charges. "Thank you for not antagonizing the king. If he wished, he could drive our order from the nation entirely."

"I mean, he seemed to really like the Wardens," Jaune mused. "But am I wrong, or did he not seem to take the threat seriously?"

Duncan gestured for the two recruits to accompany him across the bridge. "The king needs to keep morale high, in order to stave off a panic. Still, I worry that our numbers are still too few, and he still believes that the legend of the Grey Wardens makes us invincible."

"Aw, and I was hoping that invincibility was part of the recruitment bonus," remarked Alanna.

"Alas, it is not," Duncan said with a chuckle. "For now, the best thing to do is to move quickly. Feel free to explore the camp. There, you will find other recruits, and a Grey Warden named Alistair. When you're ready, have him gather the recruits and meet me in the camp. Until then, I take my leave."

The recruits gave a quick salute as the Warden-Commander walked away. Jaune shared a conspiratorial grin with his fellow recruit.

"So… wanna cause trouble?"

[/]

_Chased_ might have been a strong word for how the Ferelden army officers reacted to the pair wandering the camp at will. "Strongly suggested to go find their superiors" may have suited their sensibilities better. Jaune had done his stint as a Huntsman of Atlas, and had a healthy skepticism of authority, but his experiences had also taught him to be more circumspect with how he acted around it.

With that being said, the pair of them had managed to antagonize the quartermaster, who had assumed Alanna to be a servant or a camp follower, sweet talk a deserter into giving them a key for a chest in the mage's camp, helped treat one of Ferelden's famous Mabari War Hounds that had been sickened by biting the Darkspawn, made a Revered Mother of the Chantry decidedly uncomfortable about that religion's history with the elves, made another recruit, one Ser Jory, damn near wet himself by suggesting that Alanna could transform people into frogs if they annoy her, played a magical prank on a mage named Wynne, who had been one of Alanna's mentors back at the Circle, to make her robes smell like stinky boots, and had personally annoyed the king's second-in-command, a stern man named Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir.

The two of them were grinning like naughty schoolchildren as they approached the stone antechamber where they saw a mage in a red robe engage in a heated argument with another blonde man in armor, though his was splinted mail of considerably more common quality than the king's. He carried a sword at his side and a wooden shield with a sunburst emblem slung across his back.

"... What the Revered Mother desires is of no consequence to me. Tell her that I will _not _be harassed in this manner!"

"Right," the armored man responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I was harassing _you_ by delivering a message. Should I have asked her to write a note?"

"Enough!" the mage's patience ran out. "I will speak to the woman if I must. Get out of my way, _fool_." The mage stormed past, and the man turned to watch him go, shrugging as he saw the new arrivals.

"You know, one good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together."

"What do you mean?" Alanna asked, puzzled.

"It's like one big party, where we can all gather 'round and hold hands," the man remarked. He paused as he took in Alanna's appearance. "You aren't another mage, are you?"

The elf rolled her eyes. "Was it the staff that gave it away, or the robes?"

"And here I thought I'd been yelled at by every mage in the camp." Recognition flooded his features as he recalled something. "Oh, you must be the recruit Duncan picked up at the Circle! Apologies, I should have recognized you right away. And who are you?" he asked, directing that towards Jaune.

"Name's Jaune. Joined up on the road to Ostagar."

The Grey Warden smirked. "Another Orlesian. If you listen closely, I think you can hear the Teyrn's teeth grinding from here. Anyway, my name is Alistair, the junior Grey Warden."

"My name is Alanna," the mage offered. Alistair snapped his fingers.

"Ah, that was the name. Anyways, Duncan should probably be ready by now. Shall we?"

In the center of the camp stood the Grey Wardens' command tent. Duncan stood before a large bonfire, along with Ser Jory - who flinched as Alanna approached - and a shifty, disheveled-looking man who the Commander introduced as Daveth. "Good, you're all here. We must attend to the task at hand, and prepare you all for the Joining."

Duncan then turned a glare on the two newest recruits and the junior Warden. "Assuming, of course, that you're all finished riling up the entire camp?"

"What can I say?" Alistair said with a smirk. "The Revered Mother cornered me. The way she wields guilt, they should stick her in the army."

The Commander was not amused. "She forced you to sass the mages, did she? Our position in Ferelden is too tenuous for us to make enemies, Alistair. I expect you to remember that and behave more responsibly in the future."

Alistair practically winced under the rebuke. "You're right, Duncan. I… apologize."

Satisfied that his junior Warden had been properly chastised, Duncan then turned to Jaune and Alanna.

"In my defense, it's all his fault," Alanna helpfully pointed out.

Jaune nodded. "It's true," he said mournfully. "I had scarcely begun to speak with the Teyrn when he had us thrown out of his tent."

"It's because you're just so outrageously Orlesian," the elven mage suggested.

"Is there no cure?"

"Alas, no. Could be worse, though, you could be Antivan."

Duncan just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, while Daveth snickered. "Just… don't," the Warden-Commander said helplessly. "We'll discuss proper Warden behavior after the battle. In the meantime, I have a mission for you all. In order to become full Grey Wardens, you must undergo a ritual known as the Joining. As part of this ritual, each of you will need to venture into the Kocari Wilds and retrieve a vial of Darkspawn blood."

Jaune had no idea what Duncan needed the Darkspawn blood for, but he had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn't going to like it.

_I'm glad my daughter didn't fall for a moron, at least,_ Mahina snarked.

"Furthermore," continued Duncan, "there is another task for you. Somewhere within the Wilds is an old Grey Warden outpost tower. Sealed in a chest therein will be copies of ancient treaties that the peoples of Thedas signed with the Grey Wardens. These treaties grant extensive rights and privileges to the Wardens in a time of Blight."

"Is this also part of the Joining?" Alanna asked.

"No, but it is important. Alistair will accompany you into the Wilds. He will know what to look for." Duncan turned to address the younger Warden directly. "Watch over your charges, Alistair. Fulfil your mission and return here as soon as you can."

"Right," Alistair nodded. "I won't let you down."

[/]

The Warden party quickly made ready to leave. Daveth revealed himself to be an archer, as he strung a long bow. Ser Jory carried a truly enormous two-handed sword and wore chainmail armor. Jaune, Jory and Alistair formed a steel front, with Alanna behind and Daveth ranging within a few meters of the rest. As they passed through the gates into the Wilds, the sentry on duty warned them that a scouting party had gone missing.

The Warden-recruits hadn't got far into the Wilds before they found signs of the missing scouting party. Those signs took the form of bodies staked in rows or swinging from tree branches.

_Well, this looks bad…_ Ren gave a rare comment.

As he surveyed the devastation, Jaune saw movement. "Alert!" he called. His fellows raised their weapons in defense, only to lower them as they saw a wounded soldier attempt to crawl towards that.

"Who… is that…" the soldier gasped. "Grey Wardens?"

"Well, he's not nearly as dead as he looks, is he?" quipped Alistair.

_Wow. Just...wow. There's something seriously wrong with this guy,_ Even Yang, who was ever the jokestress, was put-off by the Warden's cavalier dismissal of the injured man.

Jaune stepped forward, preparing to summon his Semblance out of instinct, when Mahina bid him halt. _There is no Aura for you to boost,_ she reminded him. Intellectually, Jaune had figured that his Semblance wouldn't work on people on other worlds, but being faced with someone wounded without the ability to help brought him right back to that horrible night in Haven. He'd felt just as powerless as he had when Pyrrha sent him away at Beacon when Weiss had been dying in his arms, all of his progress since the Fall rendered meaningless. She was so small and fragile, and he could lose all of his friends, one by one…

_I'm okay, Jaune_, Weiss gently reassured him, his friends having picked up on the sudden and intense emotion over the link. _You saved me. I'm okay. Maybe someone here can help him?_

Taking a deep breath, Jaune brought himself back under control. "Alanna, can your magic help this man?"

"Give me a moment," the elven mage frowned as she assessed the soldier's injuries. A gut wound. Fatal, but slow. Bad way to go. As Jaune and the Wardens looked on, she gathered magical energies from the Fade, and shaped them into a golden light. The soldier's wound knitted itself back together under the soft golden glow.

"Wow," Jaune gasped. "Alanna, that's amazing."

_That's how we feel when we see you do what you do, Jaune,_ Ruby told him. _You're pretty amazing too._

Unfortunately, not all of the Wardens shared Jaune's appreciation for the magical arts. "Andraste preserve us!" Ser Jory invoked the name of the prophetess of the Chantry, and made a motion to ward off evil. Behind him, Daveth just rolled his eyes.

"Aw, come off it, Ser Knight. I bet you wouldn't find it so spooky if it was _you_ she was patching up."

The soldier slowly got to his feet, though he winced and held his side. "You'll still need a few days to recover," advised Alanna, "but you should be able to get back to the camp now."

"Right. We were ambushed. Damn Darkspawn just came out of the ground, surrounding us. I need to go report to my commander. Good luck, Grey Wardens."

They waited until the soldier had shuffled off before convening a brief discussion. "Did you hear that?" asked Ser Jory. "An entire company of experienced soldiers, and they were all wiped out!"

"Are you blubbering, again?" Daveth scoffed in apparent disbelief. "Some knight you are."

Ser Jory looked at the rogue as if he'd been slapped. "I… I'm no coward. But this is foolhardy and reckless. We should turn back."

"Would it help if you hid behind the ninety-pound elf girl?" Alanna taunted.

Jaune held his tongue. On the one hand, he had been in a situation not so different to this, where he had gone to Beacon's Initiation sans Aura. In his ignorance, he had fully been prepared to do battle with the Grimm with nothing more than some trash-tier armor and his family's rusty sword.

_I retract my earlier statement about my daughter falling for a moron,_ Mahina dryly remarked.

He decided that he was going to ignore that. The point was, he had Aura and the finest mentor in Remnant to get him started as a Huntsman, so who was he to look down on someone armed with steel and nerve? On the other hand, these people were all here to become Grey Wardens, and take the fight to the monsters that threatened their world. He could see if Daveth the street thief had serious doubts - apparently, he'd been drafted into the Wardens - but weren't knights meant to fight monsters and protect the innocent? Wasn't that in the damn job description?

"Listen, Ser Jory," interjected Alistair. "There are Darkspawn about, but we are in no danger of wandering into the main horde."

"How do you know?"

"Grey Wardens are able to sense when the Darkspawn are near. That's why I'm here."

Daveth shot a sardonic grin at the knight. "You hear that, Ser Knight? We might all die, but we'll have warning of it first."

"We don't have a choice in the matter," Jaune broke in. "We need to move quickly, but carefully. Lead the way, Alistair."

For some reason, the junior Warden pulled a face at that, but quickly stowed it. "Right. First, let's find some Darkspawn."

The party actually made quick work of what Darkspawn they found in the Wilds, usually small groups of no more than five. There had been a bit of friction in the first skirmish as both Jaune and Alanna had attempted to give orders, Jaune due to his years of leading Team JNPR, and Alanna due to her natural domineering personality and keen grasp of tactics. Jaune was happy to defer to her, partially because her position hanging back allowed her to see the greater part of the field of action, and partially since this was, after all, her world, and she would know better how to position her teammates to get the best use of her magic.

Procuring three vials of Darkspawn blood came easily enough, though Jaune and the other recruits still had to overcome their natural revulsion at the bubbling, congealed, corrupted black substance to scoop a vial full. Jaune had also been horrified to learn that certain, extremely powerful Darkspawn, were capable of using magic themselves, and was relieved to see that Alistair's training as a Templar - a knight intended to specifically disrupt and counter spellcasters - worked on them as well.

Alanna carefully positioned each fighter to maximize their effectiveness. Jaune and Alistair provided a solid cover with their broad shields, while Jory moved to flank and cut down foes from the side, and Daveth picked off vulnerable stragglers and any alphas from cover. The mage was actually rather sparing with her magic, only resorting to it to prevent the creatures from making formations or overwhelming Jaune and Alistair, sending them scattering with conjured stone fists, or trapping them in paralyzing glyphs.

_Perhaps I should hang back as well,_ Weiss mused.

_This is only working as well as it is because she's got so many buff dudes between her and the bad guys,_ Ruby disagreed. _All of us are far more mobile than these guys._

_So what you need to do is surround yourself with big strong men in armor,_ teased Yang.

_With the exception of Jaune, all the big strong men in armor that we know are from Team CRDL,_ Weiss pointed out with the psychic equivalent of a gag.

_Single woman seeks good knight_, Nora tested out.

Ren sent a sense of disgruntled irritation over the link, to which Nora teased him.

Jaune shook his head with a smile. He was glad that his friends were able to speak with him, even if they couldn't be with him in person. It made the whole experience much less daunting. He looked up the hill where the latest batch of Darkspawn had attempted to do murder upon them. Alistair had taken a nasty cut to the shield arm, which Alanna tended to while the others took a break to regain their breath.

"That's some shield you've got there, ser," Jory said.

Jaune smiled. One good thing about Ferelden was that Crocea Mors was one of the most advanced weapons around.

_Boo!_ Ruby let her feelings on the state of Thedas's weapons be known.

"Crocea Mors has been in my family for generations," Jaune said truthfully. "It is my dearest possession."

"Oh, no doubt," Jory said. "I've never seen a shield constructed so. Can you explain how it expands and contracts the way it does?"

_That's because it's a grower, not a -_

_Yaaaaaang!_

"I'm afraid not," Jaune replied with a shrug, studiously ignoring Yang's antics. "Although, a friend of mine is a great smith, and did some custom work on it."

Jory clapped him on the shoulder. "Well, your friend did fine work. Let us see to our leader then, shall we?"

The two knights wandered over to where Alanna was putting away her herbalism kit. The state of medical science in Ferelden, such as it was, was nothing short of appalling, but Alanna at least knew to heat her needles and soak her bandages in wine. Not great, but good enough for field work.

"Now, what did we learn today?" the elf admonished the Templar, waving a wadded up cloth at him like pointer.

"That I should come to you if I ever need my socks patched?" Alistair asked hopefully.

"Ugh. Just be careful not to reopen that cut. If we get time to rest, I may be able to cast a healing spell on it, but until we're safe, I'll need to conserve mana. And no more reckless stunts." She pulled a face as she realized both what she was saying and the tone in which she said it. "Andraste's flaming tits, I sound just like Wynne," she recoiled in horror.

Jaune gave a quick wave. "Hey, are we ready to go check out that tower?"

"Good enough." The Warden stood up. "Right. This looks like the place."

The party entered the ruins of the tower. The ceiling had collapsed long ago, the door had rotted away, and many of the walls were crumbling. In the center of what had been the tower rested the petrified wooden remnants of a smashed-apart chest.

"That's probably the chest we're looking for, isn't it?" Jaune asked.

"Who goes there?"

Alanna backed away from the chest as her companions all readied their weapons. At the top of one of the crumbling staircases stood a pale woman with black hair. She wore stitched-together black leather leggings, though calling the cloth over her chest a "top" was a little generous. It looked to be held together with string and feathers, and only barely concealed part of her small breasts.

_Engaging Anti-Yang Protocol_, Jaune thought.

_What?_ The eponymous girl in question asked.

_Anti-Yang Protocol. Eyes up, don't let them wander, because being careless could result in pain._

_...Huh. You figured that out quick, huh?_

Jaune recalled an instance where Pyrrha had asked him to help adjust her breastplate, and how awkward it had been as he had studiously avoided looking while she had kept pushing her breasts up and together to get them to fit, nervously giggling all the while…

_Ah hell, she was trying to get my attention, wasn't she?_ He realized, literally years too late.

Nora's facepalm was palpable. _Damn it, Jaune!_

"Are you scavengers, I wonder?" the woman at the stairs asked. "Here to pick the bones of a carcass long since dead? Or have you an intruder, come into these Darkspawn-filled in search of easy prey, hmm? Well, which are you," she asked sharply. "Scavenger, or intruder?"

"We are neither," Jaune surprised himself by speaking up first. "We are Grey Wardens, and this tower belongs to us."

"'Tis a tower no longer," the woman argued.

Behind him, Alistair nudged him. "I'd be careful, if I were you. She looks Chasind," he invoked the name of the largest of the barbarian tribes that were native to the Kocari Wilds.

Up on the stairs, the woman laughed sardonically at Alistair. "Oh, you fear barbarians will swoop down upon you?"

"Yes. Swooping is..._bad_," Alistair answered, summoning the full extent of his intellect.

Alanna just sighed, but before she could speak up, Daveth beat her to the punch. "She's a Witch of the Wilds, she is! She'll throw us into a pot!"

The barbarian woman laughed again. "Witch of the Wilds, he says! Such fantasies you men produce!" A sensual, predatory smile crossed her full lips as she turned her attention back to Jaune. "You there… handsome lad… what do you think?"

_Oh, hell no!_ Nora raged. _No spooky itty-bitty titty witch - sorry, Weiss - is gonna prey on our Jaune!_

_Wait, why did you apologize to me for?!_

_Never you mind! Jaune, just tell her 'BEGONE, HOOKER!_

Before Jaune even had the chance to respond to _either_ of the outrageous conversations going on around him, Alanna stepped in front of him protectively. "Why don't we speak woman-to-woman and let the boys sort themselves out first, hmm?"

"Why? Has he no mind of his own?"

"Nope," Jaune answered with a grin.

The witch canted her head. "Your self awareness does you credit. I _like_ you," she said, her voice breathy.

_HOOKER, I SAY!_

_Nora, please,_ Ren interjected. _I don't think Jaune is going to engage in any ill-advised trysts with random strange, scary women in the woods._

_Thanks, Ren, _thought Jaune.

_Although, had she white hair, then concern might well be justified. _The burst of outrage from Weiss was pretty much expected by everyone, and she did not disappoint.

_Betrayal hurts, Ren. That's hurtful. _With that, Jaune silenced the link.

"I'd… be careful if I were you," Alistair advised. "First it's all 'I like you," he imitated the witch's tone. "But then zap! Frog-time."

In the meantime, Alanna had, through main force of personality, forced the witch to address her directly. "Greetings. My name is Alanna. May we know yours?"

"Ah, now that is a proper, civilized greeting, even out here in the Wilds. Very well. You may call me Morrigan."

"Can you tell us what happened to the documents, Morrigan?" Alanna asked.

"Why, they are here no longer."

Alistair started. "'Here no longer?' Why you… you're just some strange… sneaky… witch-thief!"

Morrigan and Alanna actually shared a look of exasperation. "How very eloquent," the witch snarked dismissively. "Tell me, how does one steal from dead men?"

"Quite easily, it seems," the Warden crossed his arms. "Those documents are Grey Warden property, and I suggest you return them immediately."

"I will not, for 'twas not I who removed them!"

"Well, who removed them, then?" Jaune asked.

"'Twas my mother, as a matter of fact."

Jaune shrugged. "Well, could you take us to her?"

Morrigan giggled, actually _giggled._ "Oh dear, so soon to have met, and already you seek my mother's blessing? But you do work quickly."

"Ahem!" Alanna had crossed her arms under her bust and fixed the witch with a withering glare. "May we focus on business, please?"

_Ooh, are we gonna see girls fight over Jaune? _Ruby asked.

_Chick fight! _Nora cheered.

_Magical chick fight!_ Corrected Yang.

"Oh very well," Morrigan sighed. "Come along then."

[/]

Morrigan's mother, as it turned out, was a powerful spellcaster known as Flemeth, the legendary Witch of the Wilds.

Daveth about pissed himself, while Ser Jory had to keep him from panicking, in a strange reversal of their normal dynamics. Jaune opted to remain silent as Alanna accepted the treaties that they had been sent to retrieve, even thanking the old witch for having preserved them. He had not appreciated the way that both Morrigan and her mother had eyed him like a dog looks at a slice of beef, or how Neptune looked at anything in a skirt.

With Morrigan guiding them through the Wilds, they were able to return to the main camp at Ostagar just as the sun began to set. Before reporting back to Duncan, they made sure to bring a supply of Wilds flowers to the kennel master, the rare plant being important to countering the sickness afflicting the Mabari War Hound. The Mabari was truly massive, and powerfully-built, with heavy muscles under short fur, and mighty jaws. But more than that was the intelligence in the canine's eyes, as he fully understood what Alanna and Jaune did for him, first by calming him down for preliminary treatment and then by providing the herb he needed to make a full recovery. He bravely wagged his stumpy little tail as Alanna rubbed his head.

_Good pupper_, Ruby sighed happily.

_Such a good pupper,_ agreed Weiss.

_Meh._ Blake was indifferent.

The recruits returned to the bonfire where Duncan waited for them. "Have you been successful?" the Warden-Commander inquired.

"Not that it was all that easy, but yes," answered Alanna.

Duncan opted to ignore the elf's commentary. "Then we should begin quickly. I've had the Circle of Magi preparing. The ritual will not take long, but you will need some time to recover before the battle."

Jaune sighed. _This is gonna suck, isn't it? _"So, are you able to tell us about this Joining ritual now?"

"I will not lie. There is danger involved. Some of you may not survive, and those who do are forever changed. Such is the cost of creating a Grey Warden."

"Are you saying this ritual can kill us?" Jory asked, alarmed.

"As could any of the Darkspawn that you faced today," Duncan answered. "You must steel your courage. There is not going back."

[/]

The recruits stood well away from the rest of the camp, in a stone circle that used to be part of a temple or chantry. Ser Jory paced nervously. "I do not like this," he stated.

"Ser Knight, if I have to listen to you piss yourself one more time, I may well stab you myself," Daveth spat, his patience clearly gone.

"This is wrong!" the knight protested. "All this magic, and ritual, and secrecy! Have I not earned my place?! I have a wife and child back in Highever. Had I known -"

Daveth spun sharply to stare down the knight. "Had they told you, would you still have come? Maybe that's why they don't. Look, Grey Wardens do what they must to stop the Blight, right?"

"Including sacrificing us?"

"I'd sacrifice a lot more if it meant stopping the Blight. You saw those things in the Wilds today. Wouldn't you die to protect your pretty wife and little baby from them?"

"I-"

"Maybe you'll die," the archer continued, relentless. "Maybe we'll all die. But if no one stops the Darkspawn, _everyone_ will die for sure."

Jory let out a deep sigh. "I just have never faced an enemy I could not slay with my blade."

Silence reigned as the two let their debate lie. There was nothing they could do at that time anyway. Jaune caught sight of Alanna, who offered him a brave little smile, holding her wrist to keep her hands from shaking. He nodded to her, and then Duncan strode towards them, with Alistair, carrying a large silver chalice, in tow.

_In peace, vigilance,_ Mahina whispered.

"This is the Joining," Duncan intoned. "In order to become a Grey Warden, you will need to drink of Darkspawn blood, and master their Taint. This is the source of our power, and of our victory."

Ser Jory, who had been looking pale to begin with, blanched even further. "We're going to drink the blood of those…. those _things_?"

"As our forebears did before us," the Warden-Commander answered with serene calm. "And as we have done before you."

Alistair spoke up. "Those who survive will gain immunity to the Taint, and the ability to sense the presence of the Darkspawn."

"Other abilities will be revealed in time," Duncan continued.

"Those who survive?" Alanna asked.

Duncan closed his eyes, no doubt remembering those lost. "I will not lie. We Grey Wardens pay a steep price to become what we are. Such is what it takes to hold the Darkspawn at bay."

_In war, victory._

"There are only a few words that we speak before the Joining," Duncan continued. "But they have been spoken from the first. Alistair, if you would?"

The young Warden bowed his head. "Join us, brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows, where we stand, vigilant. Join us as we uphold the duty that cannot be forsworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not have been in vain. And know that one day, we… shall Join you."

With that, Duncan took the chalice from Alistair. "Daveth, step forward." The archer did so. "You are called upon to submit yourself to the Taint," the Warden-Commander intoned as he handed the chalice over. After a moment to steel his courage, Daveth drank from the chalice. "From this moment on, you are a Grey Warden." Duncan retrieved the chalice as the archer began to choke and gasp, wrenching screams between desperate breaths, his eyes rolling back in his head. "I am sorry," the Warden-Commander apologized as the brave Daveth perished before their eyes.

The other recruits stared in shock and horror.

_In death, sacrifice._

"Ser Jory -"

"No!" The knight began backing away from Duncan, his hand wandering perilously close to his sword hilt. "You ask too much! There is no honor in this!"

Duncan handed the chalice to Alistair, and slowly pulled a long dagger from his belt. "There is no turning back," he warned, his voice still eerily calm.

"No!" Ser Jory drew his sword and attempted to lash out at the Warden-Commander. With almost contemptuous ease, Duncan backstepped the clumsy greatsword swing and darted in, brutally stabbing the knight in the armpit. Jory let out a wet rasp as his lung collapsed. In seconds, he fell, drowning in his own blood.

With such serenity as one would never guess that he had just stabbed a recruit to death, Duncan cleaned and sheathed his dagger, then retrieved the chalice from Alistair. "Jaune. You are called upon to submit yourself to the Taint."

Jaune swallowed and stepped forward. The chalice was filled with blood streaked with the congealed black corruption of the Darkspawn. With his Aura, he had a better than even shot of beating Duncan in a straight fight… but he wasn't here to survive. He was here for Pyrrha. Jaune figured it unlikely that the goddess Mahina would have sent him here to die at the first mission, but by her own admission, she was neither omniscient nor omnipotent.

But it was for Pyrrha. And if laying down his life was the only way to return her to hers…

Before he knew it, he had pressed the chalice to his lips and drank deeply.

"From this moment on, you are a Grey Warden."

He screamed.

He burned.

He fell into darkness, and in that darkness, he viewed a great and horrifying dragon. It's once-brilliant scales were dulled and flaking away, revealing the rotted flesh and yellowed bones beneath. Jagged teeth erupted from lipless, rotted jaws, and tattered wings spread in the darkness.

This, then was the Archdemon.

Ruin.

Corruption.

Doom to all the world.

Jaune fell into darkness once more.

_Fear not, my brave Jaune,_ he heard, distantly. _I am with you_

**[/]**

**Author's Note: That's the first chapter of the first world, then. Hope you enjoy it. This isn't quite a reaction-fic in the sense of, say, animegamer89's "Into the Arc-hive," but it does have reaction elements from the characters that aren't participating at the moment. I hope that you enjoy this style. Unsure if this chapter is too long, too short, or more or less good.**

**Ah, Dragon Age: Origins, one of my favorite games. I played it again not too long ago, and was a little embarrassed when I met Alistair again. He's like that one crush you had as a teenager, and then you find old video of him when you're an adult and you're just like "whhhhhhyyyy? What did I see in him?" And Cailan was even dumber. But damn, they were pretty.**

**I am being informed that I have a fetish for tall blonde men in armor. I admit to nothing.**

**Alanna represents the Player Character for DA:O. In this story, when Jaune goes somewhere, he adds himself to the story, instead of replacing the normal characters. So when he goes to "Mass Effect" or "The Lord of the Rings," it isn't "What if Jaune were Commander Shepard," or "What if Jaune were Aragorn," but "what if Jaune were along for the ride alongside Commander Shepard or Aragorn?"**

**A couple of commenters on the intro chapter suggested some franchises/universes to add. So, I'm still mulling over what to do, but one thing I'll point out from the get-go is that me omitting a universe isn't me crapping on it. Sometimes, the structure just won't work with the story. An example of that is the new, mature "God of War." Excellent story, but the intimate nature of it doesn't really mesh well with "and here's Jaune too." Another reason a franchise might be omitted is if I'm just not familiar with it. I'm sure **_**Attack on Titan**_** is awesome, but I haven't got around to watching it yet, so I can't really speak intelligently on the matter.**

**DC might be funny, if only to see how Jaune deals with S-tier superheroes like Superman. Of course, and this goes for Netflix!Witcher as well, I would have to literally, physically restrain myself from hardcore thirsting after Henry Cavill. Yep. Just describing this physical god, with his broad, hairy chest, strong, heavy arms, cleft chin, abs you could grind meat off of…**

**See what I mean? Makes it hard to focus. Maybe I'll make a one-off scene with Jaune trying to deal with all the girls drooling over him and trying to shut off the psychic link.**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that you'll stick around for the next. Thank you for reading!**

**-Mahina**


	3. Dragon Age Origins II

**A/N: Don't know if you've checked out some of my other stories to see what's been going on with me lately, but to make a long story **_**very**_** short, I'm in the mood to kill something. A lot of somethings, actually, hence this chapter.**

**Heaven or hell? Let's rock!**

**[/]**

_You spooky witch, you killed him!_

_He's going to be fine, Nora. Look, he's coming to now._

Jaune groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. His vision swam for a moment, so he blinked to bring the image into focus. The two Grey Wardens, Duncan and Alistair, peered down at him from where he lay on the stone floor. Jaune groaned again, and tried to close his eyes, before becoming aware of just the most horrifying aftertaste of his entire life.

"Ugh!" he coughed and leaned over to one side to spit, trying to rid himself of the foul taste in his mouth.

Alistair kneeled next to him, giving a little laugh as he offered up a wineskin. "Yeah, nothing tastes quite so bad as literal distilled death, huh?" The red was a bit sour, but Jaune didn't care, rinsing and spitting and then taking a hearty swig from the skin.

"What… what the hell?!" Jaune shook his head before accepting Alistair's offered hand. The ex-Templar hauled Jaune to his feet and slapped his shoulder in solidarity.

"It's rough, isn't it. Well, I'm glad at least two of you survived."

"Alanna!"

With wobbly legs, Jaune ran over to where the elven mage was being helped to her feet by Duncan. The senior Warden acknowledged Jaune with a nod.

"How do the both of you feel?" he asked, in his serene tone.

Alanna ran a shaky hand through her hair. "I… it's a shock. Not even the Harrowing hit like that."

"Such is what it takes to become a Grey Warden," he answered. Jaune shook his head once more, pointing to the Warden Commander.

"I can't believe you killed Ser Jory!"

Duncan sighed. "It gave me no pleasure to end his life, but the secrecy of the Joining must be maintained. When he went for his blade, he left me no other choice. If it is any consolation, word will be sent to Highever, where he will be remembered as having fallen as a Warden, not cut down as an attempted deserter. We can at least grant him that dignity in death."

Jaune slowly lowered his accusing finger. Though the line between a Huntsman and a soldier had been perilously thin in Atlas, Jaune had never considered himself to be military. Even so, he knew that desertion, in _any_ military, held severe consequences. It left a taste in his mouth nearly as bad as the Darkspawn blood, but that was simply the way things went down in Ferelden, apparently. Besides, it's not as if it would bring Jory back to hold a grudge against the older Grey Warden.

"And Daveth died too…" Alanna remarked, obviously saddened.

"At my Joining, only one of us died," said Alistair. "But it was… horrible. I'm glad that you two pulled through, at least."

"Take some time," Duncan told the two newest Grey Wardens. "When you're ready, there is a meeting with the King that I would like you two to attend."

"Oh!" Alistair took out a pair of teardrop-shaped glass amulets, presenting them to the pair. "At each Joining, we take a drop of blood and put it into an amulet. Something to remember those of us who never made it this far."

As Jaune and Alanna accepted their amulets, Duncan nodded. "Come find me at the war table when you're ready." With that, he and Alistair took their leave of the pair.

Jaune turned around to regard the large pyre that the other Wardens had set alight while he was out. His elven companion turned. "What is… oh." she said sadly, as she realized what it was.

The bodies of Jory and Daveth burned together. The pair of living Wardens stood silently together.

"In death, sacrifice," Alanna sad. "I guess we need to go now."

"Yeah. World's not going to save itself."

"Jaune?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you made it."

_Aw, that's nice,_ Ruby added.

He simply nodded, and the two of them left the ruined temple behind.

[/]

"I must repeat my protest to your fool notion that we need the Orlesians to defend ourselves!"

As the two newest Grey Wardens approached the war table, the second highest-ranking noble in the land, Teryn Loghain, was in a furious argument with his sovereign. The Teryn was pale of skin and dark of hair, bearing a severe appearance, his face gaunt and drawn, his skin pallid. Despite the fact that he had crested middle age and was rapidly approaching old age, he bore a suit of heavy plate armor without any apparent hindrance.

"It is _not_ a fool notion!" King Cailan's brow furrowed as he lost his patience. "Our arguments with the Orlesians are a thing of the past. And you will remember who is king."

Loghain pinched the bridge of his nose. "How fortunate we are that Maric did not live to see his son ready to hand Ferelden over to those who had enslaved us for a century."

"Then our current forces will have to suffice, won't they?" The King turned to Duncan, who was now flanked by Alanna and Jaune. "Are your forces ready to fight, Duncan?"

"They are, Your Majesty," Duncan confirmed with a bow.

"Ah, and these are the two recruits I met at the gate earlier? I understand congratulations are in order."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Alanna gave a curtsey, looking slightly out-of-place on a field of war.

Jaune scratched the back of his head for a second before a sheer impulse from Weiss over the link had him copy his fellow Wardens. "I am ready to serve, King Cailan," he said.

"Every Grey Warden is needed, now more than ever."

Loghain turned to regard his king once more. "Your fascination with legend and glory will be your undoing, Cailan. We must attend to reality."

Cailan just sighed. "Fine. Speak your strategy."

The two men leaned over a map of Ostagar that had been pinned to the table. "My forces will draw out the Darkspawn, here," he pointed on the map. "And then?"

"You will alert the tower to light the beacon," Loghain supplied. Signalling my men to flank from co-"

"To flank the Darkspawn, I remember," interrupted the king. "This is the Tower of Ishal in the ruins, yes? Then who shall light this beacon?"

"I have a few men stationed in the tower. It is not a dangerous task, but it _is_ vital."

"Then we should send our best. Send Alistair and these new Grey Wardens to make sure it's done."

_That kinda seems like overkill_, Ruby thought.

_Yeah, but it keeps Jaune out of the thickest fighting._

_I'm not a child that needs to be protected, Ren, _subvocalized Jaune, who added a bit of his exasperation so that his teammate would get the hint.

Loghain looked skeptical. Well, he looked skeptical towards Cailan. Towards Jaune, he glared with naked animosity and contempt. "You rely on these Grey Wardens too much, Cailan. Is that truly wise?"

"Enough of your conspiracy theories, Loghain!" Cailan's exasperation boiled over. "Wardens fight the Darkspawn, no matter from where they hail!"

Duncan spoke up. "Your Majesty, you should consider the possibility of the Archdemon making an appearance."

"My men have seen no sign of any dragons in the Wilds," Loghain muttered.

_Didn't your men get wrecked by, like, a dozen Darkspawn?_ asked Nora, prompting Jaune to bite down hard on his cheek to keep from snickering in the middle of a war briefing.

For his part, Cailan just shrugged at Duncan. "Isn't that what your men are here for?"

"I… yes, Your Majesty," conceded Duncan.

A man in the robes of a mage approached the table. "Your Majesty, the tower and its beacon are unnecessary. Let the Circle use our spells to signal - "

"We will not trust any lives to your spells, _mage_," a woman in the finery of a Chantry priestess practically spat. "Save them for the Darkspawn."

"Enough!" Loghain stood up and away from the war map, clearly disgusted. "This plan will suffice. The Grey Wardens will light the damn beacon."

"Thank you, Loghain," Cailan nodded in the Teyrn's direction. "I cannot wait for that glorious moment. The Grey Wardens and the King of Ferelden, fighting side-by-side to stem the tide of battle."

Loghain had begun to amble away from the meeting. "Yes, Cailan. A glorious moment for us all…"

_Bad guy alert!_ Ruby called.

_Yep. Guaranteed that he's gonna be a bad guy_, agreed Yang.

_All he's missing is the mustache, really. _Nora chimed in.

With no one watching Jaune was able to roll his eyes at the proceedings. _You mean to tell me that the obviously spooky guy with the obviously spooky voice, dropping mysterious lines and practically twirling his mustache could possibly be plotting something nefarious?_

Alanna nudged him. "Come on, let's get ready for the fight. Or, the trudge up the ladder. Whichever comes first."

[/]

Alistair did not take news of his assignment well.

"What? I won't be in the battle?"

Duncan felt a headache coming on. "This is by the King's personal request, Alistair. If the beacon isn't lit, the Teyrn's men won't know when to charge."

"And he needs three Grey Wardens to hold the torch just in case?"

"Alistair…" warned Duncan.

"Fine, fine, I get it, very important," the young knight relented. "But just so you know, if the king asks me to put on a dress and do the Remigold, I'm drawing the line."

Alanna chuckled. "Oh, I don't know, that could make for a cunning tactic in battle."

"What, me shimmying down the Darkspawn lines? We could kill them while they're laughing to death."

"You know, my life took a dramatic turn that time I put on a dress at a ball," Jaune mused. "You'd be stunned by just how much the ladies loved it."

Alistair peered over at him. "Did they really?"

"Oh, yeah, like you wouldn't believe. Tell 'em, Alanna."

The elven mage put on her most deadpan expression. "Every woman wants a man with confidence, and nothing says confidence like a gown."

"That's what my dad said!" Jaune cheered. "I mean, except for the gown part, but the rest of it was spot on."

Alistair looked back and forth between them, now intrigued. "Really?"

Duncan just buried his face in his hands. "Just… why?" After a brief moment mourning his hopes and dreams for the future of Ferelden's Grey Wardens, the Warden-Commander resolved to instill some semblance of order after the battle. "At any rate, your task is simple; get to the tower, wait for the signal, and light the beacon. Alistair will know what to look for. I will need to get to the king's side soon. Listen to me; from here on out, you three are on your own. You are all Grey Wardens, and I _expect_ you to act accordingly."

"Duncan…" Alistair looked up to his mentor. "Maker watch over you, Duncan."

"May He watch over us all."

Thunder rolled as the three Wardens made their way across the bridge towards the Tower of Ishal.

_Battle's starting,_ reported Ren.

_Puppies! Nooooo!_

_War hounds without Aura,_ Yang noted grimly.

From their vantage point on the bridge Jaune watched in disbelief as the King's forces did a full-on charge _away_ from a fortified position. "How are they supposed to hold until the reinforcements arrive?"

Alanna shook her head. "Not our problem! We need to get to the tower!"

They ran across the stone bridge, keeping their heads down as arrows and boulders flew overhead. The Wardens skidded to a halt as they saw that the courtyard in front of the tower was filled with soldiers battling Darkspawn.

"How did they get past the lines?" Alanna wondered.

"Not our problem!" Alistair echoed her earlier statement.

Jaune drew Crocea Mors, expanding its shield. "Right! We cut our way to the tower! Let's go!" The three set off in double time, the two knights in front with the mage behind. Alistair and Jaune used their shields to bash their way through the melee, knocking aside what Darkspawn attempted to waylay them. The party didn't stop to try and finish off the ones that fell, pressing on for the Tower of Ishal.

At the base of the tower, the Wardens were met by a pair of soldiers who came running from the building. They were drenched in sweat and appeared to be nursing minor cuts and scrapes. "Are you Grey Wardens?" one of the pair asked them. "You need to get help - the tower has been taken!"

"Taken, taken how?" demanded Alistair. Behind him, Alanna shrugged.

"At a guess, Darkspawn," the mage muttered.

The soldier either didn't hear her interjection or, more like, he didn't care. "They came up from under the ground," he reported. "Must have been tunneling."

"The entire tower is overrun!" his companion added.

The three Grey Wardens shared a look, reaching a silent consensus. "Then we need to get to the top and light the beacon ourselves!"

_No way you're going to reach the top in time for the signal,_ Ren pointed out.

_Not a whole lot we can do about that now,_ Jaune replied. _Nothing doing, I guess._

Jaune nodded to the pair of soldiers. "I know you're probably a bit beat up, but we're going to need your help if we're going to get the rest of the army in place in time. You with us?"

"Aye, guess we're in it," one of them said. "Come on, Alec," he said to his fellow. "Once more into the breach and all that."

"If we make it out of this, I'm filing for a discharge," the other man groused.

With that, the five of them entered the Tower of Ishal, the two soldiers leading the way. The entryway opened up to a large, circular antechamber. Darkspawn snarled at them from behind an array of makeshift barricades. The two soldiers made for an opening in the barricades…

Jaune saw the danger too late. "Wait!"

The first soldier stumbled over a rope that stretched across the gap. As his weight snapped it free, it released a gout of thick, viscous grease, sending the two men slipping off of their feet to land heavily on their backs.

_Grease?_ Ruby wondered. _What do they need grease for -_

Her inquiry was answered as one of the Darkspawn, the shorter variety called a "genlock," sent a magical ball of flame into the grease. The substance went up instantly, the sudden conflagration catching the soldiers., who began cooking alive in their armor. Their screams echoed off the stone walls and ceiling, mixing with the roar of the flames.

_Oh shit!_ Yang swore.

Jaune was stunned, and mentally re-evaluated the threat that these Darkspawn creatures posed. They'd set a trap, a _trap_! Not even the oldest and most cunning of Grimm had displayed that level of abstract thinking and tactical acumen, with only the Queen of the Grimm, Salem herself, capable of making complex plans.

_Good to keep wary_, congratulated Mahina. _Not all of your enemies will have similar attributes to those of your homeworld. _

Alanna worked her arms in a complex series of movements, conjuring up a magical frost to smother and extinguish the fires. She then rushed forward along with Jaune, with Alistair covering them with his shield.

Jaune winced as he saw the gruesome burn damage inflicted on the two men. One had already succumbed to his wounds as Alanna examined the other. "Can your magic…?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "Only one treatment left for him. Cover his eyes"

Alanna took out a knife.

_What is she going to do with that?_ asked Ruby.

Weiss mentally sighed. _Sometimes…_

As Jaune covered the burned man's eyes, Alanna slipped her knife between his ribs. The poor man's pained groans and whimpers gave way to a choked gasp and then a sigh.

_Sometimes the only thing left to do is to end the suffering_, Ren finished for Weiss.

Alanna cleaned her knife on the dead man's burnt clothes, then stood up. Her face was set in a determined mask, giving away nothing of her inner thoughts. "Jaune. Let's go."

He followed her lead, sparing one last look for the dead men as he stood.

[/]

The unexpected tactical cunning of the Darkspawn invaders forced the Wardens to make their way through the tower slowly and methodically, killing the foul creatures before them as they went. The grease trap at the front of the tower wasn't the only cunningly-placed obstacle that the Darkspawn had placed; on the third floor, in a burst of intuition, Jaune had urged his two companions to duck into a side hallway, which enabled them to bypass a pair of ballistae that had been rigged to fire into the main entryway.

"Good call on that one, Jaune," Alistair remarked, cleaning off his sword after they'd ambushed the Darkspawn crew that had been manning the ballistae. "Pretty sure those bolts are longer than Alanna."

The elf in question just shook her head. "Anyone hurt? No? Let's keep going." She took off in the direction of the staircase without waiting to see if either of her fellow Wardens were following.

Jaune just shrugged at Alistair as he jogged to follow her. "You really shouldn't strike out ahead without us," he remarked as they made their way up the stairs.

"It was only a few feet," she griped, pushing open the heavy wooden doors that led to the top level of the tower. "I hardly think that there is anything here that my magic could not -"

They came to a halt as their minds registered the room's sole occupant. Crouched amidst the burning ruins of the room's furniture, gruesomely _crunching_ its way through the corpse of some unfortunate soldier, loomed the largest Darkspawn that they'd seen yet. As it rose and rose and _rose_, they saw that it was roughly humanoid in shape, with bunches of heavy muscle swelling underneath pallid, sickly grey skin. It ran the back of its arm across a mouth adorned with long, yellow jagged teeth that interlocked together. As the finishing touch to its nightmarish image, a pair of long horns erupted from its skull, each easily three feet in length and curling up behind its head.

The creature rose to its full height, some twelve feet tall, and roared at the Wardens.

_Aw, nerts_, Jaune thought.

"Ogre!" Alistair was the first to speak, identifying their enemy. He drew his sword.

Jaune shook off his shock at the sight of his new foe. After all, the Deathstalker at Initiation had been larger, and the Nuckaleavee at Kuroyuri had stood taller. He expanded his shield, checking to make sure that Alanna, who had her staff in a white-knuckled death grip, was ready to fight. "All right, how do we fight it?" he asked.

"Don't let it grab you," Alistair answered. "If it grabs someone, try to stun it, bash the head."

"Can we get it on its back?" Jaune asked.

Alanna shrugged. "Maybe an ice spell on the floor? Or if we get its legs together and a heavy weight up top?"

Jaune nodded. "All right. What we need to do is -" with that, the time for planning was over, as the Ogre gave another roar and charged them like an enormous bipedal bull. "Scatter!" Jaune yelled.

They darted in three separate directions, with Jaune actually diving over the thick arm of the creature, hitting the ground in a roll. He rose to his feet and saw the Ogre reach down towards Alanna. The elf touched her index and middle finger to her temple and emitted a blinding flash that had the creature recoiling away.

"Alistair!" Jaune called as he charged towards the Ogre's flank. The Huntsman went for his old standby, cutting into the back of the Darkspawn's leg, while Alistair drove an overhand stab into its back.

The Ogre roared again, pivoting with surprising agility to face the pair. Alistair struggled to pull his sword out of the monster's back, only to be sent flying through the air by a powerful backhanded slap from the Ogre. He hit the ground hard a dozen feet away, rolling a bit as he struggled to rise.

"Hey, you!" Jaune shouted at the Ogre to focus its attention on himself. He succeeded, then somersaulted out of the way of its sudden bullrush. The Ogre was carried on by its own momentum, crashing heavily into the worn stone wall behind where Jaune had stood.

He sheathed Crocea Mors, triggering the mechanism that sent the sharpened rim of the shield up and out, forming a heavier, broad-bladed bastard sword.

_What's that song that just played? _Nora asked.

_Oh, that's Jaune's leitmotif,_ answered Mahina.

_Jaune has a theme song?_

"I have a theme song?" Jaune muttered aloud. As the goddess explained to his friends about their particular themes, he shook his head and focused on the task at hand. The Ogre turned around once more, looking for him. Jaune hefted Crocea Mors into a ready guard, but as the Ogre made to rush for him again, it was struck by a bolt of magical lightning from Alanna, who had been charging the spell from off to one side. The great beast flinched, bright sparks of lightning crackling across its skin.

Jaune knew an opportunity when he saw one, and dashed forward to capitalize on the opening. With a great two-handed swing, he opened a deep cut on the Ogre's chest, causing a great gout of sickly black Darkspawn blood to spew from the wound, covering Jaune in the viscous substance.

The Ogre staggered back, then dropped to one knee when Alistair ripped his sword free from its back and then promptly buried it into the back of the monster's knee. Jaune recovered from his first blow and struck another, slicing deep into the Ogre's other leg, dropping it to the ground.

He flipped his sword over in a quick flourish before driving the twin Mistrali Bronze blades of his sword into the base of the Ogre's skull, wrenching his sword free with the cracking sound of splintering bone. The Darkspawn thrashed in its death convulsions before laying still.

Jaune shook the blood off of his sword as he looked over his teammates. "Everyone good? Alistair, you hurt?"

"I'm fine," the other knight waved him off. "We need to get the beacon lit. We've surely missed the signal. Let's just light it and hope for the best."

_This entire operation has been a disaster,_ Ren commented.

Alanna cast a magic flame on the oil-soaked wood at the base of the tower's beacon, causing a great conflagration to erupt from the top of the tower. The Warden's slumped in relief as the beacon lit, with Alanna wandering off to check the contents of some nearby barrels.

"That's a neat trick, with the sword," Alistair remarked.

"A friend of mine figured out how to make it work that way," Jaune shrugged.

_Heads-up, betrayal._ Weiss informed.

Jaune turned away from Alistair so he wouldn't see the sudden shock on his face. _Oh crap, the Teryn actually -_

_Oh! Oh no, the king is dead,_ Ruby added. _Alistair was right to warn against those ogres grabbing you._

_Wait,_ Jaune tried to keep abreast of the rapidly shifting situation. _The troops aren't -_

_Duncan's dead too,_ reported Ruby, her tone saddened and subdued.

"What?!" Jaune couldn't help but hiss. He felt Alistair drop a hand onto his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" the other man asked him.

Jaune shook his head. "Something's wrong. We need to be ready for -"

The door burst open suddenly as a horde of Darkspawn rushed into the room. Jaune scrambled to draw his sword and expand his shield as the first rank of the invading Darkspawn began firing arrows and hurling javelins at the three Wardens. Jaune swore as he saw Alanna fall under the volley of projectiles.

"Alanna!" He took off in a dead charge towards the Darkspawn. "See to her!" he shouted at Alistair.

He slammed his shield into the first hurlock that he reached, hacking and stabbing wildly at the teeming mass of Darkspawn before him. He stamped and fenced like a madman, desperate to keep them away from his new friends. So ferocious was his assault that he actually succeeded in holding them at bay for a short time, giving Alistair the space he needed to get to Alanna and drag her off into an alcove. He spared her one last glance before running to join Jaune in fending off the Darkspawn.

Alistair skipped a step as he saw a cut on Jaune's face close itself with a golden glow emanating from the newer Warden. He ultimately just shrugged and took to the fight, using his shield to cover Jaune's open spots. After all, if his fellow Warden was some kind of rogue mage, an apostate, it wouldn't matter very much if they all died here.

"I don't think we can hold them back," Jaune gritted his teeth as he used his shield to punch a dying genlock off of the end of his sword.

"Doesn't look like it," Alistair said. "All we can do is take as many of them with us as we can."

Jaune grinned, his expression bitter. "In death, sacrifice, right?"

"I knew you'd get the hang of this."

Bit by bit, though the monster's blood and corpses fell thick onto the floor, the two armored Wardens gave ground before the Darkspawn. Finally, they were pushed back to where Alanna had lay unconscious and bleeding, stabbed by several arrows.

_Pull him back out of there!_ Nora shouted.

_That which can be gained without risk can be lost without risk_, Mahina responded. _This task was always one of danger._

"End of the line," Jaune muttered. The two men stood over the fallen elf and prepared their last stand. Jaune wondered what would happen if he died here. Would he be sent back to Remnant? Or would he actually die-die? Whatever happened, he didn't regret his choice to try and save Pyrrha. The way he saw it, he'd been living on borrowed time ever since the Emerald Forest, when his stupid self should have died as a greasy smear against some tree. But Pyrrha had saved him. How could he, in good conscience, have given anything less than his all to repay her?

Well, if nothing else, his Aura would let him inflict a damn good bloody nose on them before they overwhelmed him.

With that Jaune shifted his grip on his sword, relishing the feel of the hilt in his hand one last time. He nodded to Alistair, and braced himself.

That was when the stone ceiling of the tower tore away as if it were made of thin paper, and Jaune and Alistair came face-to-face with an honest-to-goodness _dragon_.

At first, as the dragon reared back its head on a long, serpentine neck, Jaune thought that the Archdemon itself had come to finish them off. Which, if nothing else, would make for a memorable way to go. However, when the beast snapped its head forward, sending a gout of blisteringly-hot flame towards the Darkspawn, he quickly realized that this dragon was much different from the corrupted apparition that he had seen in his vision. Where the Archdemon had been rotten, scales dulled and flaking off of blistered, blackened skin, this dragon shimmered in the light of the flames, looking whole, healthy, and very much _alive_.

The floor of the tower soon gave way under the incredible heat of the dragonfire, sending the burning remnants of the Darkspawn crashing to the ground, to be buried amidst the rubble of the suddenly-collapsing Tower of Ishal.

Jaune and Alistair stood on the sole remaining section of the top floor, shielding their faces as best they could from the heat. From out of the flame, they saw a woman stride towards them, as unconcernedly casual as if she were perusing the weekly market instead of a Darkspawn-overrun hellscape.

Alistair coughed, then gasped as he recognized the woman. "You… you're Morrigan's mother! The Witch of the Wilds!"

Where before, she had appeared as an unassuming old woman, the Witch of the Wilds now stood in her full glory revealed, in blood-red studded armor, sharpened steel gauntlets, and a black iron headdress that rose to entwine the draconic-looking horns into which she had shaped her white hair.

_Wow...talk about extreme makeover_, Yang snarked, sounding audibly relieved that Jaune appeared to be saved.

"My, you Grey Wardens seem to have got yourselves into quite the predicament," the old witch said by way of greeting. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in a way off of this tower?"

Alistair stared at the Witch. "We've wounded. Can you take her?"

The Witch peered at Alanna's body. For a moment, Jaune thought the worst, but then the elf groaned softly, barely audible over the roaring of the dragonfire. "The girl clings to life, but we must move quickly if we are to save her. Gather her up, and prepare yourselves."

"Prepare for what?" asked Jaune, as Alistair carefully lifted Alanna into a bridal carry. Jaune's question was soon answered as the Witch of the Wilds began to glow, shifting her form into that of the mighty dragon that they had laid waste to the Darkspawn of the Tower. With the beating of powerful wings, the dragon took flight, but not before her massive talons closed around the Grey Wardens, with Jaune in one and Alistair and Alanna in the other.

The flight away from the remains of the Tower of Ishal granted Jaune a magnificent survey of the outcome of the Battle of Ostagar. King Cailan's forces and the rest of the Grey Wardens had been completely overrun, with mutilated corpses stacked dozens high on the ramparts leading into the fortress itself. A few brave souls had stood to buy as much time as they could for a handful of survivors to make a desperate flight north of Ostagar. Further to the north, almost out of sight, Jaune spied the torches carried by the army of Teryn Loghain, the lights forming neat columns as the soldiers retreated in orderly fashion from the field of battle.

_What a disaster_, he thought.

_Their plan was fatally-flawed from the onset,_ Ren agreed.

_Where are you going to go from here?_ asked Ruby.

Jaune gave the psychic equivalent of a weary shrug. _Right now, wherever the nice dragon lady takes us. After that, I guess we try and find whatever allies we can to hunt down the Archdemon._

_There is little more that you can do tonight,_ Mahina said. _Rest now Jaune, knight and Warden. Your challenges in this world have only just begun_.

That was not a comforting thought to lull him to sleep, but bone-tired and numb from the mass death to which he had borne witness, Jaune was still able to let go of his consciousness, to find what rest he could in the clutches of a dragon.

**[/]**

**Chapter Endnotes: So, coronavirus is a thing. Hope everyone is as safe as they can be in a global pandemic. I'd like to take a moment to express my gratitude to the people who are keeping society together right now - retail workers at grocery stores, the delivery drivers taking food and supplies to people, the clerks manning gas stations, truck drivers hauling supplies across a shut-down country, the logistics workers trying to allocate supplies to the places where they're needed, and of course, the medical professionals who are on the front lines. **

**The only way we're going to pull through this without collapse is by working together. Mistreating retail workers is a sign of poor character in the best of times; now, when they're pulling long hours and risking exposure to ensure that people are able to procure the food and supplies they need, if I see someone out there abusing a clerk, I **_**will**_** kick their ass up around their ears. I don't care if you're unaccustomed to shortages and rationing - not everything is about you, Karen, so buck the fuck up, or catch these goddamned hands. **

**Or, if throwing hands is too disruptive, then those people screaming at the poor stockers trying to keep the shelves clean should be banned from the stores, and consigned to forage for food in the friggin' wilderness.**

**Some people, I swear.** **Sorry about that. Figured that, if I have a couple hundred people reading this, it'll at least get the message out to stop abusing retail workers.**

**Anyway, onto the story-related stuff. Reader CommandoSquirrel asked if Jaune should be "over" Pyrrha by now. I reckon this story is about two-and a half to maybe three years post-Fall. So, imagine this: your friend, partner, mentor, and apparent possible love interest is killed, and it's at least partially your fault. You press on to try and avenge her death, only to realize that your efforts to do so are endangering what other friends you have remaining. Eventually, the sharp pain of grief begins to heal, scarring over. Maybe, in time, you even start to consider other possibilities - that scythe girl sure grew up pretty, or maybe your old school crush might be more receptive now. The point is, while the wound of her death has scarred over, it isn't actively hurting you anymore.**

**And then, in all of that, somehow, out of the friggin' blue, you're offered a chance. It isn't merely a once in a lifetime chance, it's an outright **_**impossible**_** chance, a chance to upend the natural order of things, and undo that mistake that had wounded you those years ago. You can bet that most people would find that wound at least a bit reopened, and they'd reconsider things that they may have dismissed years ago in light of what they'd learned in the intervening time, wondering what they could have done differently.**

**So, I think it makes sense that, when suddenly presented with the impossible opportunity to get Pyrrha back, Jaune's thoughts would be on her.**

**Oh, and while I'm sure that the commenter didn't mean anything by it, LoneWriter091 **_**did**_** challenge a transgender woman to "have the balls" to keep writing this story. I know, I know, but I can't resist the opportunity to make an off-color trans joke: LoneWriter091, should I ever divest myself of those balls which evoke your concern, I can assure you that I will inform you posthaste. Unfortunately, the pandemic means that all such surgeries are postponed indefinitely, so I suppose I'll simply have to continue writing.**

**Right, moving on, now that I've made everyone uncomfortable. Next up on my agenda is finishing the next chapter of "Falling Snow," then I'll get to the next chapter of this story. Thank you all for reading, and good luck out there.**

**-Mahina**


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